The word appears 1 times.
The word is used in this novel to illustrate how awful it is to be called a robot. Of course, all the characters in the book ARE robots, but to actually say that out loud is as offensive as calling someone a nigger would be to humans.
The premise of the novel is that mankind has gone extinct and the robots left behind are building their own distinct civilization. The instance where it is use is the quintessential statement regarding the premise of the book; the definition of the theme, if you will. It seems entirely appropriate given that it used to add weight to the insult of the word ROBOT.
This one of the only SciFi novels where I have encountered this word.
I am a robot. Yes, I used the R-word; I know it's an obscenity. Use it to an aristo's face, and it's a mortal insult; grounds for a challenged on the the field of honor between equals. Its connotations of subservience and helpless obedience are abhorrent, much as the word "nigger" once was between humans. But there's nobody left but us robots today. That's the dirty little hypocritical lie that's at the root of our society; They, our dead Creators, made us to serve them, and they forgot to manumit us before they died. And in their absence, that makes us what?